Tropical storm Arthur threat closes N.S. music festival

The Canadian Hurricane Centre is keeping an eye on tropical storm Arthur, which is expected to intensify into a hurricane and affect weather in Atlantic Canada on the weekend.

Prince Edward Island could be looking at up to 100 millimetres of rain and winds gusting to 90 km/h late Saturday into Sunday.

Linda Libby with Environment Canada said the Canadian Hurricane Centre mobilized its office this morning and is keeping a close eye on hurricane Arthur.

The system has formed off the east coast of Florida and is forecast to shimmy up the U.S. East Coast as a hurricane this week.

Libby said it’s too early at this stage to say with any certainty the exact path Arthur will take. It could come across the middle of New Brunswick and impact the entire Maritimes or it could veer well south of Nova Scotia.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre will be issuing bulletins every six hours. Libby said there will be adjustments made as Arthur approaches.

The Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Canso, N.S., announced on its website that it was cancelling the event scheduled to begin Friday and continue through the weekend.

"It is impossible in these circumstances for us to guarantee public safety," Troy Greencorn, the festival's artistic director, said in a news release.

"It's a horrible decision to have to make after so much work by so many people, but we just aren't prepared to take the risks. ... Hosting an outdoor, camping festival in a hurricane would be foolhardy.''

Environment Canada is asking Islanders to monitor the weather, especially considering that so many events are taking place outdoors.

One of the biggest concerts in the province goes this weekend, with the Cavendish Beach Music Festival set for a three-day run, beginning Friday.

Festival president Jeff Squires said they’ll keep an eye on the weather but everything is still a go.

Today, Environment Canada has issued a humidity warning for Prince Edward Island, saying temperatures will feel like the mid-30s C with the humidex today and Thursday.

Islanders are reminded to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated if spending long periods of time outdoors.

Comments

Comments

Your name*Email*Comment*

Recent comments

justin

July 03, 2014 - 00:43

Puleaseeeee people we are talking about weather forecasters here. They actually get it right maybe 40% of the time if they are lucky. If we started cancelling our lives and events based on a weather forecasters we all be staying in our houses most of the time. Many things can change by Saturday including the path of this storm so hardly the time to be panicking and running into our houses and locking the doors. Weather forecasters are much like chicken little they would rather make the weather forecasts rather then just report them which is their jobs. Just like many in society the weather people also want to be heroes.

So Jeff Squires thinks its a good idea to keep this going with every forcast putting the Hurricane right over PEI ... Maybe he should think about what happened the the people at both the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose AB and the Sugarland concert in Indiana when high winds hit those stages ... Killing a combined 8 people and over a 100 injured

i wonder how many islanders have a emergency kit packet and ready for at least 72 hours? if we were to get hit with a storm like hurricane sandy how long do you think ghiz and his gang is going to worry about the little guy? wake up protect yourself the info is out there for you use it. if not then you do not have the right to complain when wee do get hit.

There's something wrong when the Guardian thinks it is OK to cut off access to a public safety article just because someone has reached his/her free stories limit. Any story related to the safety of the public should be open to all readers.

Here's a tip, if you are using Google Chrome (if you are using internet explorer may god mercy on your soul) then you can right click on the article link and select "open link in incognito window." When you browse with incognito mode any news websites can't track your usage.

Ted DiBiase

July 02, 2014 - 14:45

It's all about the $$$$$$$$$
welcome to life

Observation About The Observer

July 02, 2014 - 21:52

You believe access to the online version of the Guardian could save your life. Access to the online version of the Guardian costs only a few bucks a year. You are too cheap to spend a few bucks to save your life. You also can't figure out how to go to Environment Canada's free Web Site. Hmmmm, perhaps this storm is just nature's way of thinning out the herd.